Getting Your Product On The Shelves Of Big Box Retailers

Having the option of taking a liquid pill is one innovation the food industry needs.Buiced

Ray Doustdar is the creator and CEO of Buiced, a liquid multi-vitamin with a 98% absorption rate compared to 10-20% you get from taking pills. The idea for Buiced started with the decision for a new health journey. After being frustrated with crushing up vitamin pills that would make him nauseous, Doustdar decided it was time to do something different and he would have to create it. Buiced has no caffeine, no artificial preservatives, colors or flavors. There are four vitamins in every shot of Buiced- B, C, E, and D. You can now find Buiced nationwide at Walmart.

Doustdar is no stranger to entrepreneurship. He launched a dating site called Team Dating in 2006. Lacking knowledge at the time on having a product in the internet space, the company lasted only a few years. That didn't stop Doustdar from learning new skills in preparation for his next venture. Doustdar shared his most valuable tips for any entrepreneur looking to launch a new business.

"When you launch a business, you have to have the pedigree and the skill set. Then connect the dots. Connect the dots from your past. Really put to use that knowledge base that's sitting there to launch what it is that you're passionate about."

Joresa Blount: What was your career before becoming founder of Buiced?

Ray Doustdar:My entire pedigree of a career totally prepared me for this opportunity without knowing it. I started my career at Proctor & Gamble and that's one of the best, if not the best, packaged goods and consumer product companies out there. So, I really started with an unbelievably solid foundation when it comes to building a brand and building a consumer brand. I was there for 5 years. I can honestly say without that foundation there's no way I would have been able to launch my own consumer product brand 15 years later.

What I would like to tell a younger person or maybe someone who wants to be an entrepreneur is that you have to have a skill set. Figure out a way to leverage the skill set into your passion. For me, the initial skills I learned were brand management, sales and marketing for a consumer product. I can't tell you how much I fall back on everything I learned at Proctor.

"Asking questions is invaluable. It really allows you how to figure out what you don't know."

Joresa: What was the first step you took to go from idea to launching?

Ray:After a week of crushing up pills on my counter and dissolving them in water or putting them into my fresh vegetable juice, I felt so great. The pill form of vitamins was making me nauseous and sick. I thought there has to something out there I can take in liquid form. There wasn't. I started researching other brands and decided I could do make it myself. I started researching SK energy shots. I was able to figure out who he [50 Cent] went to see when it comes to beverage energy consultants. I took it to contract stage, and that became my roadmap. These guys wanted $25k to get to a prototype stage. I thought, they are basically telling me what I need to do. So I thought, okay Ray let's see how smart you really are in figuring this out. I literally took that contract and divided it up into steps. I did one step at a time over the course of 15 months. In 15 months, I was able to create Buiced.

"Keep things manageable, controllable and local."

Joresa: What's your advice on finding a manufacturer?

Ray:When you launch a business, the closer to home you can keep everything the better. I can get in my car and drive to the bottle manufacturer.

Joresa: What advice would you give an entrepreneur wanting to enter into the food industry?

Ray: The traditional advice is to say you have to have passion for what you are doing. I realized passion is kind of a given. If you don't have passion for creating something and putting everything on the line there's small chance you'll succeed. It takes more than passion. You must be relentless. That means going to the next door when a door gets closed in your face or sacrificing Thursday night happy hour, and lounging on the weekend because you want to put in the work. Be relentless about getting your vision into fruition. Make sure you are ready to put in the work.

Joresa Blount is an author, Head of Content for Creator|Founder, and creator of Brown Girls Innovate too which provides tools and connections for women in tech.